Western cyclone., 1887-05-05
The Great Buddha.

The temple Of Dai-DOuts0n (the
great Buddha) seems temple built
for fun-an enormous joke to amuse
the faithful.
This Great Buddha" has only a
| head and shoulders, at least ninety
| FIVE feet high; he seems to be Using
from the depths of the earth, with his
| neck stretching up like someone max
ing painful effort to struggle out of
| the ground. He alone fills all his
| temple, and his curling hair touches
| its roof.
One reaches him, just as all the gods
are reached, by n series of stairWaYs,
porticOes, and courts. From the gate
of the sanctuary one can not very well
explain to oneself at the first glance
what is that hillock of gold, that shape
| less mass in front (the shoulders OF
Buddha). 1t is only afterward, when
YOU look up very high. that YOU see far
above YOU the colossal gilded face, the
huge fixed eyes gazing down upon YOU
from the height Of ninety feet with
idiotic placidity.
| find myself making this pilgrimage
at the same time as a goOd-natured
Nippon family of country people, who
time; and the good folks, especially
| the ladies, can not get over the idea
of seeing 50 big god; and there are
cries Of 'Ah! and 20! '-eXclama-
tons of Surprise-little screams and
little laughs. No, really! this Buddha
is just too funny, with his stOrk-neck
and his stupid air-funny us any of
those snow men which urchins make
| at the corners of the streets-funny as
some enormous caricatUre made to or
der by little children. And there the
little country family are all laughing
right under the gods nose-laughing
| till the tears roll down their cheeks,
and the other visitors, and even the
| guardian bronZes themselves. also
| laugh to see them laugh. Then they
| all look at me TO see how | felt about
| it. and | have to laugh, tOo-can' pos
>ibly help il. What a country this
Japan, where everything is Oddity and
| contrast. Who could ever imagine
that this frivolous little temple. with
| its reVerenceS and its eternal laugh,
| could have lived through centuries
| locked up in such ferOciOus mystery,
and have given birth to those thous-
ands of other temples, with their mon
sters and their hobgoblins?
BY the payment of 2 cents one is
| privileged to make the round of the
| great Buddha-One ascends by series
of sloping plank galleries, placed at a
| very steep angle, on which you can
| pass behind the head of the colossus, a
little above the nape of the neck. !
the voyaging family; the slOping way
is slippery, old, broken through here
and there, wOrm-eaten-the ladies very
nearly fall. | put out my hand to help
them, and then we become good
friends right away. Behind the enor-
nous head, in a dark nook, an old
bronze is squatting dOwn-for l cent
he shows us suit or armOr and a wal
mask which once belonged to the great
! Toxic Sama-and then he throws open
for our benefit sundry very ancient idol
| closets in which animal-headed divini-
ties are conserved and various relics
of weird respect. There we do not
| laugh any more.
In the court of this temple is the
most mOnstrOus of all the bells Oi
Kioto-at least seven or perhaps eight
yards around. 1t is rung by means
of an enormous beam tipped with iron
"a sort of battering-ram suspended
horizontally with ropes.
For cents extra one has the right
to experiment with it. / harness my
self to the pulling straps, circle is
formed around me, and children run
up. Even two or three young girls
come behind me and take hold, bother.
ing me a great deal, pulling the wrong
way half the time, bursting into fits o1
laughter. The united strength of the
| three is almost equal to the power o1
three good kittens.
Meanwhile the battering-ram be.
gins to yield; gradually it begins to
swing. BoOm-boom A sound awful
cavernous, and prolonged into mighty
orchestral vibrations which must bt
heard through the whole of the sacred
| city.
Then the audience is so happy!-de-
lirious with joy-can't get enough of
it; everyone laughs; everyone in
ecstasy.-Ne1C Orleans Times Demo-
Gratis Translation from the French.
|